Félix Auger-Aliassime came through his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Pablo Carreño Busta 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. The fourth-seeded Canadian advanced to the round of 16 at the outdoor hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event, in the process defending the quarterfinal points he earned at the tournament last year.
Auger-Aliassime controlled the opener
Auger-Aliassime settled into the match quickly, dictating the pace with his serve and aggressive baseline play. In the opening set he won 80 percent of first-serve points. Carreño Busta competed well early on but could not consistently keep the Canadian out of his preferred rhythm in the longer rallies.
The Spaniard was unseeded and had earned his place in the third round with victories over Mariano Navone and Alejandro Tabilo. In both of those previous matches he had dropped the opening set before fighting back — a resilience he showed again in Shanghai, though it was not enough against a focused Auger-Aliassime in the first set.
Carreño Busta forces a decider
In the second set, Pablo Carreño Busta found a better foothold on returns and began to apply more pressure to Auger-Aliassime's second serve. The Spaniard was patient in the rallies, waiting for shorter balls to move the Canadian out of his offensive position.
Auger-Aliassime temporarily lost his grip on the return game, while Carreño Busta converted his chances with greater consistency. The second set went to the Spaniard 6-4. For the world No. 65, the set win was a significant moment, coming on a run through the draw that had already required him to overcome several setbacks.
Dominant display in the deciding set
In the deciding set, Auger-Aliassime immediately raised the intensity. He moved forward at the right moments, pinned Carreño Busta back with deep returns and gave the Spaniard little room to settle into his controlled baseline game. The Canadian won 57 percent of points across the entire match and stayed ahead in the critical phases throughout.
Carreño Busta could no longer hold his service games together. Auger-Aliassime created break points, converted his chances and pulled clear. He held serve on 92 percent of his service games and kept the pressure on until the very end, taking the deciding set 6-1.
The match statistics underlined his superiority: Auger-Aliassime struck 37 winners and won 42 percent of return points. Carreño Busta managed just 13 winners and rarely found an answer on return.
Significance of the victory
For Auger-Aliassime, it was a second win in as many meetings with Pablo Carreño Busta. The Spaniard missed out on what would have been his first Masters round-of-16 appearance since Cincinnati 2024, with reaching the third round remaining his best result in Shanghai — a mark he had already matched this year.
From a hard-fought contest, the Canadian ultimately took away the decisive composure. Rather than sitting back after dropping the second set, he raised his level and dominated the decider. That earned him a place in the round of 16, while Carreño Busta's Shanghai campaign came to an end.
